Renewable forms of energy, such as wind power, have become increasingly desirable sources for meeting present and future electrical power requirements. Wind power typically is harvested through the use of a wind turbine that includes a hub having multiple wind turbine blades mechanically coupled to a rotatable shaft. The rotatable shaft is connected, either directly or indirectly, to a generator. For example, the generator includes a synchronous generator.
Typically, the generators require a constant input angular velocity for efficient operation. However, an angular velocity of the wind varies constantly and the rotatable shaft is unable to provide the constant input angular velocity to the generator. Generally, a variable speed magnetic coupling is provided to address the aforementioned issue. The variable speed magnetic coupling is provided at the rotatable shaft that eliminates the variations in angular velocity of the rotatable shaft and provides the constant input angular velocity to the generators. The variable speed magnetic coupling converts an electrical power to a mechanical power and transfers the mechanical power to the rotatable shaft to maintain the constant input angular velocity.
Conventionally, the variable speed magnetic coupling withdraws the electrical power directly from the grid for its operation leading to various grid code compliance issues resulting in complexities and expense.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for embodiments of the invention.